And then the rookie was gone, just like the rest of his 49ers teammates, who spent New Year's Day packing up their lockers. Gold helmets went into large cardboard boxes, dirty cleats into a large receptacle, and iPads (containing playbooks) back to the team's tech staff for the offseason.

Quarterback C.J. Beathard, tight end George Kittle, and receiver Trent Taylor said they'd all live in Nashville and train together this offseason.

It felt a lot like a dorm clear-out on the final day of college, and it'll play out similarly when the 49ers reconvene later on in 2018: Many faces will be back after break, but some will have moved on to the next phase of their careers.

Center Daniel Kilgore, whose contract is now up, is one of the 49ers who isn't sure.

“I want to be back,” Kilgore said, expressing hope that he and the 49ers will work out an extension. “But if not, there are 31 other teams.”

Kilgore lingered around the locker room for longer than almost every other player, casually chatting with the media, soaking in the surroundings that he's called home since his rookie year in 2011.

“I don't want to leave,” Kilgore said. “I like hanging out with all my friends here.”

Fellow offensive lineman Joe Staley, who was arranging to get a signed Jimmy Garoppolo shirt to his daughter at home, also had Kilgore autograph the shirt.

Mention of the quarterback brought Staley to the topic of the 49ers' season-ending surge. The team won six of its last seven games, including five in a row after Garoppolo took over as starter.

Staley said the winning reinvigorated his passion for football. He then lamented that the season ended with Sunday's 34-13 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers finished 6-10, but became the first team in NFL history to notch that many wins after starting 0-9.

“There’s not a team in the NFL that would want to see us in the playoffs right now,” Staley said.

===

At their final meeting of the season, the 49ers announced their 2017 team awards:

The 49ers did not name a team MVP; the Len Eshmont Award is considered the most prestigious. That went to Goodwin, who reported that he had no concussion symptoms less than 24 hours after being hospitalized following a vicious hit in Los Angeles.

Goodwin joked that his biggest worry while in the hospital was convincing a nurse to stream the game on her phone. He returned to the Los Angeles Coliseum after the final whistle and flew back with the 49ers.

DeForest Buckner and Adrian Colbert were two other 49ers who left the season finale beaten up, but both joked and faced the cameras in good spirits.

Buckner was scheduled to go to Stanford Hospital to have his chest scanned — he wasn't quite sure what was wrong there yet — while Colbert's elbow looked a lot better than it did when it bled after the game Sunday.

“I gotta get my weight up this offseason and add some muscle,” Colbert said (earlier this year, he indicated he weighs less than 200 pounds). “That way, I don't get hurt. These guys in the NFL are a lot bigger than me. I can't just run through people anymore.”

Colbert, a seventh-round draft pick in 2017, was particularly upset about Blake Countess' hit that concussed Goodwin, his cousin, on Sunday — one that he deemed intentional.

That incident, combined with the season's culmination, prompted Colbert to reflect on his past two years. He said he fought through depression when an assistant coach at Texas doubted his ability to succeed in 2015. Colbert said that Goodwin played an essential motivating role in his life during that trying time.

“I was in a bad place,” Colbert said. “I was depressed. I had a coach tell me I couldn't play football and wasn't going to make it to the NFL. Marquise was really encouraging at the time, telling me to keep the faith. I started praying more and the blessings started to come. And then a coach called me from Miami, and I took that leap of faith.”

That coach was former Texas assistant Ephraim Banda, who was hired as the secondary coach at Miami and encouraged Colbert to transfer for his senior year.

Colbert's career took off with the Hurricanes, and he seized his next opportunity with the 49ers this season.

“We've gotta lot of work to do as a team,” Colbert said. “But this run was definitely a great starting point.”

===

Garoppolo also talked at his locker before flying to Chicago to see his family. The quarterback said that discussions regarding a long-term deal with the 49ers have not started at this point. Garoppolo does plan to speak with his agent, Don Yee, in the next couple of days, at which point the ball may start rolling.

Garoppolo did share that he never actually had to use the wristband that Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello prepared as a play cheat sheet for him this season. Though Garoppolo wore the band throughout all his starts this season, it ended being merely a luxury in case things went awry.

They never did.

— Reported from Santa Clara

(Top photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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